Thomas donahue



(No Model.) 7

T. DONAHUE.-

' CYLINDER LOCK.

UNIT D-ST TES PATENT OFFI E.

' "THOMAS Donation, F BRANFORD, CONNECTIGUTJASSIGNOR TO THE I BRANFORD LooK worms, OF SAMEPLAOE. v

CYLINDER-LOCK.

SPECIPIQATION forming part 'of Letters Patent No. 375.540, dated December 27, 1887. Y Anplicutionfiled September 5; i887. semiinmlene. (No model?) 1 To all whom it may concern: j

Be it known that I, THOMAS DONAHUE, of Branford, in the county of .New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Im- 5 provemeutin Cylinder-Locks; and TM hereby declare the following, when taken. in connection with accompanying drawings and theletters of reference marked thereon, to be aifull,

clear, and exact description of the same, and

which said drawings constitute 'part of this specificatiom aud represent1,-in-

' Figure 1,a partial'section of a lock and door,

' showing, the case inclosing the cylinder; Fig. 2,a perspective view of the case detached from the door;yFig. 3, a perspective view of the cylinder detached, also showing the plate for connecting the cylinder with the lock; Fig. 4, a

side view of the cylinder, showing the recesses,

unlocking; Fig. 12, an end view of the cylin'.

der, showing a flat key-hole.

This'invention relates to an improvement in thatclassof cylinder-locks in which several radial tumblers are arranged, adapted to en- 5 gage or disengage the surrounding case, the

keybeing arranged to enter the lock in an axial direction, the edge of the key adapted to operate the said radial tumblers and cause them to engage or disengage the surrounding 40 case accordingly as the key is withdrawn or introduced, the object of the invention being a cheap and simple construction and arrangement of the tumblers.

. A represents the cylinder, shown detached in Figs. 3 and 4. This cylinder is adaptc'dto;

set into a case, B, the said case being con structed to set into a recess formed in the face of the door, asseen in Fig. 1, and the caseprovided with a surrounding flange, C, at its outer 5o.en d to hip onto the surface of the door. The

such that when the key is insertedinto the cylouter end of the cylinder A is exposed through an openingin the flange O, and in the cylinder in an axial plane the key-hole isformed. The key-hole is flat, except at its center a bend is'prod-u'ced in the hole to giveto the keyhole anirregular shape,"the-'key itself being constructed with acorresponding longitudinal ir-' regularity, b, as seen in Fig. 5. This insures the proper presentation of the key iutothe cylinder, and also serves to support the key in its central relation to the cylinder.

Transversely across the cylinder-a series of recesses, d, are formed (see Fig. 4) in numbercorresponding to the number of tumblers -'re- I quired for the lock. These recesses are made from one'side beyond the planeotthe key-hole, as seen in Fig. 8, leaving the portion act the cylinder beyond solid. The tumblers f (see Fig. 9) are cut, from sheet metalin thickness corresponding to the, respective recesses-d in the cylinder,and in length correspond to the diameter of the cylinder. The width of the ends of the tumblers is such that when in place, as seen in Fig. 8, the ends of the tumblers stand in a central position in the cylinder. Each tumbler" is constructed with an opening, g, through it in line with the key-hole, as seen in Figs. 8 and 9. The several tumblers are set into their respective recesses, and when so set the key as it is introduced into the outer end of the cylinder will pass through the respective tumblers. The openings g are-. the same in length, but at varying distances-from their respective ends. The key hasv its two edges constructed of reverse irregular shape, but 85 so that the width of the key is substantially the same throughout and corresponds to -the length of the openings 9 in the tumblers, and

the irregularities in the edge of the keyare inder, as seen in Fig. 11, the tumblers will all be drawn entirely into the cylinder from both directions, so that at 'both ends they stand flush or within the surface of the cylinder, but when the key is witherawn the irregular surfacesa id the irregular lengths of the tumblers.

from t e opening outward cause the tumblers to move diametrically in the cylinder, and s0 that the tumblers will enter corresponding re-- cossesgi, formed in the surrounding casing B, 100

as seen in Fig.6. The reeessest' in the casing B are alike in opposite sides and are in position with relation to-the cylinder, so that when the cylinder is in the locking position the tumblers will standin line with the said 31113 cessese', and so that they may be then forced therein as the key is withdrawn; but when the key is, introduced the tumblers are drawn into thee-cylinder, and then as the cylinder with the tumblers is turned within the case B the tumblers are taken out of range of theropenings 1'; hence they are held in that withdrawn position, andwhen so held with in the case the key cannot be withdrawn" The recesses tare alike in opposite sides of the case B, so that 'thea 'ecesse's afford an advantage, because in 'an-yaltempt to pickthe look, a tumbler, being withdrawnfrom onelside by an instrument otheif'than helkeyzpwill" almost unavoidably enter-the recess in the opposite side.

' Do rctainthe tumblers in their proper positionin the cylinder, so as to allow onlydiametrical movement, the recesses d outside the tumblers'are filled by a block, I, (see Fig'. 10,) introduced into the respective recesses, as seen in Fig, 8, and so} thatthc said blocks fol-ma guide-forione side of the tu'\nblers,.while thebottom of the recess in, the cylinder forms a gnidefor theoppositeside, .These blocks-are held in place bythesurroundingcasing. The-cylinder"is;preferably introduced fromthe outer end of the case, and is therefore pros videdat; itsouter end with an annular flange, m, which setsjnt'o a corresponding" recess in the faceiofitheease, Then, to secure thecylin- .der, in the case; a dislg n, is-appliedto the other endof the cylinder and secured-thereto, as seen inFigs. 2 and'6, the disk extending; f over the inner end of the case;- 4

may be made between-the a I 1 Conneetio indcr and the lock in any of the usual methods of making like connection between the cylinders of this class of the lock and the rnechan' ism of the lock itself. a Ashere represented, the inner end of the cylinder is constructed with a transverse groove, 0, and into this groove a plate, 1', is set, as seen in Fig. 6, the plate adapted to engage a corresponding groove, t, in the hub u ofthe latch or lock bolt.

I have represented and prefer to make the key-hole irregular in shape transversely, to indicate the proper position for the key; but the key may be flat, and the key-hole correspondingly flat, as indicated in Fig. 12. It will beunderstood-that the tumblers work with sufficient friction to retain them in their position in the cylinder -,without the aid of springs.

Iclaim- "W A The combination of the cylinder A, constructed with-a key-hole in alongitudinalcen- .tral plane, but of irregular shape'i'n transverse section, the said cylinder constructed with recesses d from one side-inward across the keyhole, tumblersf in length corresponding to the diameter of the cylinder and arranged'in the respective recesses, the said tumblers being each constructed with an'opening, through them in line with the keyhole, blocks -Z,in the respective recesses to form guides for one side of thetumblers, a case within which said cylfinder is adapted to revolve, the sai'dcase constructed with recessesi' diametrically opposite each other and corresponding to'the respective tumblers, and a key transversely in irregular shape corresponding to the shape of the keyhole, and in width corresponding to the length of the opening 9 ,in'the tumblers, the opposite edges of the key of reversely irregular shape, 85

substantially as described. V v

P 7 p I 'THOMAS D ONAHUE.

Witnesses: P y. I 1 FRED 

